PRC introduces the TOC – Technical Oversight Committee

In order to deliver credible and objective data, the Publisher Research Council (PRC) has introduced the TOC (Technical Oversight Committee) to guarantee the authenticity of PAMS (Publisher Audience Measure Survey) and other surveys it conducts.

“Media owners and Joint Industry Councils (JIC) like the PRC that conduct their own research have been accused of ‘marking their own homework’,” says Peter Langschmidt, consultant to the PRC. “To overcome this perception that media owner audience research is flawed and biased, the PRC has established a panel of independent experts to validate and approve the authenticity of the PAMS data.”

The TOC comprises both local and internationally respected and experienced media experts. These include Mike Nussey, Elana de Swart and international research guru Peter Masson.

The local industry leaders are well respected for their views and are long standing stalwarts within the South African media industry. Elena’s media strategy career started in 1979 with DM&M. She worked at various internationally-aligned advertising agencies (Y&R, Draft FCB, Leo Burnett) as media director, board member and for some, as shareholder. She has also served on the board of SAARF (SA Advertising Research Foundation).

Mike Nussey has nearly 40 years’ experience in this industry since starting as a media planner in 1981 at De Villiers & Co moving through the ranks as account director, managing director, and CEO.

Peter Masson, from Sesame Systems and Bucknall and Masson in the UK has over 50 years media experience. He began his career as a media planner and then moved onto creating media planning software. He is internationally renowned as being at the forefront of media research.

These industry experts, together with PRC consultant Langschmidt form the TOC, with over 150 years of combined media and research experience, have scrutinised the PAMS research methodology, sample and practices and confirmed the validity and data integrity of the PAMS data.

“We believe that the introduction of this Technical Oversight Committee will go a long way to allay any fears and perceptions that the industry may have insofar as the PAMS data being skewed or biased in any way,” states Jude James, senior researcher at Tiso Blackstar, a founding publisher of the PRC.